Regional Involvement

In Report To The Region, Resource
1

A Report to the Region, pg 11 – View the “Report to the Region”, PDF

One of the most popular tools in recent years has been the use of workshops or charettes as a technique for involving citizens in developing solutions to planning problems. This method invites citizens to apply their common sense and local knowledge to find solutions to planning problems in their area. Processes vary widely, but typically participants work in groups on maps of their area. This method is a marriage of GIS modeling techniques and a neighborhood workshop process. Workshops are often popular but the real test is if results can lead to solution that are useable in developing realistic plans.

Cumberland Region Tomorrow is inclusive of diverse perspectives. This founding principle is reflected
in our board membership, which includes directors from each county in the region, representing geographic balance and a broad array of interests.

CRT’s regional planning workshops were based on a model developed by the Envision Utah Public/Private Partnership. The award-winning Envision Utah process, which has also been employed by the Los Angeles, Austin, TX, and Chicago regions, pioneered the use of workshops in large-scale regional applications. The Envision Utah model is the most effective method by which we can achieve CRT’s goals of understanding desired growth patterns from the region’s residents and then creating consensus to guide future growth and development.

Invitations to the two workshop series were extended to the entire CRT database of constituents, including all elected officials; planning directors and planners; public sector stakeholders including state and local government employees; private sector stakeholders including architects, engineers, educators, students, realtors, developers, builders, farmers, business leaders; regional agencies, community activists, nonprofit leaders, and concerned citizens in our region. Because of the broad backgrounds and perspectives of these regional participants, CRT feels confident that diverse views and opinions are represented in workshop results. Detailed information about the workshop process is available here.

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